Safety razor



May 12, 1931. R. E. THOMPSON SAFETY RAZOR File'd Sept. 28. 1929 //V l/f/V TUE. fax a a. kim Lzm Patented May 12, 1931 urrso v srs PATENT OFFICE RALPH E. THOMPSON, 0F BBOOKLINE, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGN'OR T0 GILLETTE SAFETY RAZOR COMIPANY, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, A CORPORATION OF DELA- ..WARE

SAFETY RAZOR Application filed September 28, 1929. Serial No. 395,852.

This invention relates to safety razors of the type in which a. flexible blade is clamped, shaped and positioned between cap and guard members having cooperating blade-shaping faces.

In the use of razors of this type satisfactorv operation depends in a large measure upon the accurate positioning of the blade" with re-' spect to the cap and guard and the positioning of the cap and guard with respect to each other. A slight inaccuracy in relation of these parts will result in an uneven edge exposure of the blade at difi'erentpoints in its length, or may produce an excessive edge exposure which renders the razor dangerous.

The purpose of my invention is to insure positively the proper relationship of the cap,

' guard and blade and to prevent misadjustment of these parts and displacement of the blade. This l am able to accomplish by providing a blade which. by its novel construe tion, is effective itself for determining the 'relativeposition of the parts and thus obviates the necessity of separate locating devices;

As herein shown the desired results are effected by providing the blade with flanges for engaging the cap and guard members, one flange locating the blade with respect to one of said members and another flange locating the second member with respect to the previously positioned blade. I have thus succeeded in simplifying the construction of safety razors and the parts which it is essential to 10- cate accurately are established in the proper relation by reason of the cooperating-or complementary shape of each rather than by the operation of separate positioning means.

A feature of my invention of particular importance in razors where the blade is shaped by being maintained in a transversely bent condition consists ina'blade having a flange connected thereto in the location of the median line of the curvature of the blade or by a connecting neck of relatively short length in the direction of bending. This construction permits the body of the blade to be freely flexed and maintained in curved condition, substantially independently of the flange which, if disposed transversely to the unember and blade positioning for assembling, and

Fig. 4 is a view in perspective of a blade having a modified form of flange? The blade-holding parts of the razor illustrated in the drawings are of the general character well known and in common use in razors of the Gillette-type. They comprise a guard member 10 and a cap member 12. The guard member is provided with guard teeth along its longitudinal edges, a tubular handle 18 and with a more or less convex blade-shaping face. The cap member 12 has a more or less concave blade shaping face which cooperates with that of the guard in shaping the interposed blade. The cap is provided with a threaded stem 14 adapted to pass through a centrally located aperture in the guard .member and into the hollow handle 18 where it is engaged by a tubular nut 20 adapted to turn freely in the handle and havingits inner end internally threaded to engage the stem 14 whereby the parts maybe clamped together.

The blade 22 is of thin flexible steel sharpened on its longitudinal edges and provided with a single centrally located perforation 24 to receive the stem '14 of the cap. At one end the blade is provided with an upturned flange 26 andat the other end with a similar downturned flange 28. The length of the blade is such that when it is positioned upon the cap the downturned flange 28 engages one of the square ends of the cap 12 both longitudinally and also angularly thus positively locating the blade upon the cap. It will be apparent that the blade may be located upon the cap with either face uppermost and may be turned end for end but in eve? position one flange or the other will be wardly disposed and will properly cooperate with one end or the other of the cap 12. In every case also there will be an upturned flange. This is so located as'to engage with I one square end or the other of the guard member 10 so as positively to locate the assembled cap and blade with respect to the guard both longitudinally and also angularly. The relation thus established in assembling the cap blade and guard is maintained rigidly by turning the clamping screw 20 to draw the parts together.

In razors employing the blade in a flat condition or in a slightly curved condition the construction shown in Fig. 3 is entirely satisfactory. In razors, however, where it is desired to maintain the blade in a position of pronounced transverse curvature I prefer partially to separate the flange from the blade so that the flange need not be bent edgewise when the blade is shaped. Such a blade is illustrated in Fig. 4. The blade 42 is provided with a central perforation and sharpened at both edges. It is, however, slotted at each end at the base of the flanges 46 leaving a relatively narrow neck 45 disposed substantially in the median line .of the blade curvature. It will be. apparent that in transversely bending this blade the flanges 46 will be substantially unaffected and need not partake of the blade curvature although they are as full-y effective in locating the parts of the razor as in the previous case. The body of the blade,

on the other hand, is unstiifened by the transversely extending flan ges'and free to be flexed between the curved blade-shaping faces of the cap and guard,

Having thus desdribed my invention what I claim as new and desire to secure by United States Letters Patent is L A safety razor having cooperating cap and guard members, means for drawing said members into clamping engagement, and an interposed blade with flanges for engaging said members and relatively positioning them -both longitudinally and angularly;

2. A safety razor having cooperating cap and guard members, an interposed blade, and means for drawing said members into clamping engagement with the blade, the blade having projecting portions for relatively positioning the cap and .guard members both longitudinally and angularly by engagement v with the latter at points in their contour.

' 3. A safety razor having cooperating cap and guard members and an interposed blade, the blade havingan up-turned flange at one end by which it is itself located longitudinally with respect to one of said members and a down-turned flange at its other end for 10- cating the other member with respect to the blade. v

4:. A safety razor having elongated cap and guard members, an interposed blade having a down-turned flange at one end shaped to fit against one end of the cap member and to locate the edge of the blade in parallel relation to the edge of the cap, tachably clamping the cap and guard members together.

5. A safety razor having a cap and guard, both with square ends, and an interposed blade having a downturned flange shaped to engage the square end of the cap and an upturned flange shaped to engage the square end of the guard.

6. In a safety razor, a blade having a sharpened edge and end portions turned in opposite 1 directions to form oppositely disposed flanges andmeans for delocated beyond the sharpened edge of the blade.

7 A safety razor having a cap and guard I with cooperating blade-shaping faces shaped to maintain a blade in transversely curved condition between them, and an interposed flexible blade having flanges connected to the body of the blade by narrow necks located substantially at the median line of curvature of the blade, said flanges being adapted properly 7 to locate the razor parts and blade.

8. A safety razor having a cap and guard with cooperating faces shaped to maintain a blade in'eurved condition between them, and

an interposed flexible blade transversely slotted near each end and having the portions outside the slots turned at right angles to form flanges for engaging the ends of the cap and guard.

9. A blade for safety razors having a thin flexible body adapted to be transversely flexed, and a flange at the end of the body partially separated therefrom and turned into a position substantially at right angles thereto, whereby the blade may be positioned in a holder 10. A safety razor having a cap, a blade with an end flange adapted to engage the cap when the blade is placed thereon so that the blade is guided-into an alignment therewith and having also another flange upstanding liill when the blade is positioned, and a guard 

